Fawzi Kerim Fawzi Kerim is a poet born in Baghdad in 1945. In 1968 he graduated from the University of Baghdad and published his first poetry book Haith Tebda' al-Ashia'a (Where Things Begin). He migrated to Beirut in 1969, where he published his second collection Arfa'au Ydi Ihtijajan (I Raise My Hand in Protest). [...]

Mohammed Khaki Mohammed Khaki is a Kurdish poet from Iran who writes in both Kurdish and Farsi and has written four volumes of poetry. When he was 16, he was imprisoned for three years for possessing an unauthorised poetry book, having originally been sentenced to twelve years. He left for the Kurdish area of Iraq [...]

Hamdi Khalif Hamdi Khalif is a poet originally from Somalia. While new on the poetry scene, she recently joined the Bards Without Borders collective, London poets from migrant and refugee backgrounds who are creating a response to Shakespeare to mark the 400th anniversary of his death. Hamdi's poems are a fusion of both English [...]

Amadu Wurie Khan Amadu Wurie Khan (pen-name: Pa-Wurie Khan) is from Sierra Leone and currently lives in Peebles, Scotland. He is a human rights journalist, a performance poet, storyteller, academic at large and a community development practitioner. Since arriving in the UK, he has undertaken research on asylum and the refugee condition, social inclusion, [...]

Usha Kishore Usha Kishore, an English Teacher who was won a UK Poetry competition Photograph: Courtesy Isle of Man Newspapers Indian born Usha Kishore is a British poet, writer and translator, resident on the Isle of Man, where she teaches English at Queen Elizabeth II High School. Usha is internationally published and anthologised by [...]

Andréana Lefton Andréana Lefton grew up in the United States and Israel, and now lives in London. She spent time with the Bedouin in the Negev and Sinai Deserts, and the Roma in Hungary. These experiences opened her eyes to people who have been marginalised for centuries, yet have so much to offer. In 2010, she won [...]

Yang Lian Yang Lian, poet and literary critic, was born 1955 in Bern, Switzerland, where his diplomat parents were stationed. He grew up in Beijing and struggled through the Cultural Revolution, which swept him up at the age of 11. Yang Lian began publishing poetry in China in 1979. His most recent poems, essays [...]

Valbona Luta   Valbona Ismaili Luta is an Albanian from Kosova who was born in 1966 in Prishtina. She started writing at an early age, but her first poems were published when she was a teenager. She used to write for a student newspaper, 'Bota e re', published in Prishtina. She came to London in [...]

Freddy Macha Freddy Macha is a Tanzanian born writer and musician. Recently, Bongo Celebrity Blog portrayed him as amongst influential artists in East Africa. He has published two Swahili story collections, won writing awards, recorded several albums and fronted bands in Tanzania, Germany, Brazil and UK. Currently he runs workshops in schools, jails and colleges; [...]

Faziry Mafutala Faziry Mafutala was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Whilst working at the Ministry of Education, he became involved in political activities for the main opposition party but had to flee because his life was under threat. Since 1996, he has lived in exile with his family in the UK. Inspired by [...]